According to Sefer Yetzirah, each month of the Jewish
year has a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, a zodiac sign, one of the twelve
tribes of Israel, a sense, and a controlling limb of the body that correspond
to it.

The Hebrew month of Av (or Menachem-Av, the consoler
of Av) is the fifth of the twelve months of the Jewish calendar.

The name Av literally means "father." It derives
from the root which means "to will" or "to desire."

It is the month of the "low point" of the Jewish
calendar (the 9th of Av, the day of the sin of the spies and the destruction
of both the first and second Temples in Jerusalem) as well as the month
of the "high point" of the Jewish calender (the 15th of Av--"there
are no happier days for Israel than the 15th of Av and Yom HaKippurim"
(Mishnah Ta'anit 26:)--the day of finding one's predestined soul-mate).

This accords with the teaching of our sages that "the
Mashiach is born on the 9th of Av." Relative to all other souls of
Israel, the soul of Mashiach, who comes to redeem Israel from her state
of (spiritual as well as physical) exile, is like a groom to his bride.
After his birth on the 9th of Av he reveals himself to his bride and betroths
her on the 15th of Av.

Letter: tet.

The letter tet, which resembles a womb, equals 9, corresponding
to the 9 months of pregnancy. In the month of Av the 9 months are condensed
and concentrated into 9 days, from Rosh Chodesh Av (the yahrtzeit of Aaron
the high priest, whose name comes from the word "pregnant")
to the 9th of Av, the day, which as mentioned above is the birthday of
Mashiach.

Mazal: aryeh (Leo--lion).

The aryeh symbolizes the superrational power of Divine
will (the meaning of the name Av, as mentioned above). The initial manifestation
of G-d's will to destroy (the Temple) was in truth purely for the sake
of reconstructing (the Temple with all of its spiritual meaning and significance
for Israel and the entire world) for eternity.

In the words of our sages (Yalkut Shimoni, Yermiyahu,
259 ): "The lion [Nevudchanetzar, who is referred to in the Bible
as a lion--Yermiyahu 4:7] came on the month of the lion [Av] and destroyed
the lion [the Temple, which is referred to in the Bible, especially with
regard to the alter, as a lion], in order that the lion [G-d, of Whom
is said 'the lion roars, who shall not fear'--Amos 3:8] come on the month
of the lion and rebuild the lion."

This secret is also reflected in the numerical value
of aryeh. Aryeh in gematria = 216 = gevurah ("might"). Gevurah
is the Divine power responsible for tzimtzum (contraction and diminution
of Divine light and energy, as is said with regard to the beginning of
Av: "When Av enters we diminish in joy" [Mishnah Ta'anit 26:])
and destruction. But 216 = 3 ? 72. 72 = chesed ("lovingkindness"),
the Divine power which "builds" all of reality, as is said (Psalms
89:3): "the world is built with [by the power of] chesed." Three
times chesed corresponds to the building of all three Temples, who are
all contained and find their eternal consummation in the third Temple,
to be built speedily in our days by Mashiach. For this reason the aryeh
appears to the right, in the place of chesed, in the Divine Chariot (Ezekiel
1:10).

Tribe: Shimon.

The name Shimon comes from the word "to hear."
The sin of the spies on the 9th of Av entailed their speaking evil of
the land of Israel and the people's accepting--"hearing"--the
evil tongue. Thus the general rectification of the month of Av is the
rectification of hearing.

Shimon is the only tribe that Moses did not explicitly
bless at the end of the Torah. This was due to his "frustration"
with the tribe of Shimon because of their involvement (more than all the
other tribes) in the sin of Pe'or (prostitution with foreign women, which
resulted in idolatry). The name Shimon divides into two words which spell
sham avon, "there is iniquity."

In a certain sense, Moses (from the tribe of Levi) was
most closely related (in spirit) to Shimon than to any other tribe. "Shimon
and Levi are brothers" (Genesis 49:5) said our father Jacob in blessing
his sons. The two together (Shimon leading his younger brother Levi) took
revenge for the rape of their sister Dinah, and destroyed the entire city
of Shechem.

In Kabbalah we are taught that the primary reincarnation
of Moses is in Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, he who more than any other of
the sages revealed the inner dimension of the Torah of Moses (in the Holy
Zohar).

The "degeneration" of the power of Shimon leads
to the destruction of the Temple. The rectification and elevation of that
very power brings about the eternal reconstruction of the Temple.

The rectification of Shimon (the rectification of the
sins and iniquities of Israel which brought to the destruction of the
Temple in the month of Av, the month of Shimon) is by his clinging to
the most essential attribute of Moses--humility. The word avon ("sin")
permutes to spell anav ("humble") the unique term by which the
Torah praises Moses (Numbers 12:3): "And the man Moses was very humble
[anav], more than any other man on the face of the earth." The name
Shimon transforms (in the month of Av) from "there is iniquity"
(sham avon) to "there is the humble one" (sham anav).

The ability of Shimon to so "metamorphasize"
depends upon his inner sense of hearing. Moses addresses Israel with the
most all-inclusive statement of the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4) : "Hear
[shemah] O' Israel...." Moses speaks to Israel through the soul-root
of Shimon. Inner hearing (derher in Yiddish) comes with the deep sense
of humility in the soul.

Even though Moses did not explicitly bless Shimon, our
sages teach us that he alluded to him in the first word of his blessing
to Judah (Deuteronomy 33:7): "Hear [shemah] G-d the voice of Judah...."
(This phrase complements the verse "Hear O' Israel..."; in gematria,
"Hear G-d the voice of Judah" = 602 = 7 ? 86 [Elokim, G-d],
"Hear O' Israel..." = 1118 = 13 ? 86).

In the division of the land of Israel to the twelve tribes,
Shimon inherited his portion within the larger portion of Judah (this
is the only instance that one tribe inherited its portion within another).
When the two names Shimon and Judah are added together: 466 plus 30 =
496 = malchut ("kingdom") Thus we learn that the malchut of
Judah depends upon the "presence" and "partnership"
of Shimon.

Judah corresponds to the month of Nissan and the sense
of speech. Shimon corresponds to the month of Av (the first two letters
and "sub-root" in Hebrew of the word aviv, the name in Torah
for the month of Nissan) and the sense of hearing. Av is the 5th month
from Nissan, whose letter is hei = 5.

The two senses of speaking and hearing are obviously
a pair, just as in the sin of the people's hearing (accepting) the "evil
tongue" spoken by the spies, the sin of the 9th of Av.

Thus we conclude that the power of the month of Av (the
month of [apparent] destruction) is to "hear" the message "spoken"
by the month of Nissan (the month of redemption), and integrate the first
and foremost power of Israel?leadership?into the consciousness of the
Jewish people.

This is the secret of the "pregnancy" and "birth"
of Mashiach (the quintessential leader of Israel) from the 1st of Av (the
beginning of his 9 day pregnancy) to the 9th of Av (his birth). He then
fully unites with the consciousness of the people, "in matrimony,"
on the 15th of Av.

Sense: hearing.

"To hear" in Hebrew means "to understand,"
to fully integrate into one's consciousness (into one's heart, not only
to understand intellectually in one's mind). To hear another is to fully
understand his dilemma and emphasize with him. Hearing is receiving--kabbalah
(first revealed by Rabbi Shimeon Bar Yochai).

In the beginning of Isaiah (read on the Shabbat before
the 9th of Av), it says: "if you desire [tovu , from the word Av]
and hear [the sense of Av], you shall partake of the goodness of the land."

The sense of hearing is the sense of inner balance, the
foundation of rectified existence. (Imbalance is the source of all fall
and destruction). A well balanced ear, a well oriented sense of hearing,
possesses the ability to discern and distinguish in everything one hears
truth from falseness, as is said (Job 12:11 and 34:3): "the ear discerns
words" ozen malin tivchan (the initial letters of this phrase spell
emet--"truth").

Controlling limb: left kidney.

The "advice" given by the left kidney is how
to properly hear and integrate truth into one's consciousness.

In accordance with the general principle that "right"
is always more spiritual than "left," the sense of thought (of
the month of Iyar), controlled by the right kidney, is relatively more
spiritual than the sense of hearing, controlled by the left kidney.

The two kidneys are the "male" and "female"
advisors of the soul. The right kidney advises how to rectify one's character
traits through the process of careful introspection (the sense of thought
of the month of Iyar). The left kidney advises how to absorb truth into
one's consciousness (the sense of hearing of the month of Av)

The word for kidney, kulyah, comes from kol--"all."
Kol = 50. Our sages teach us that "at the age of 50 one is able to
give advice." The two kidneys are two complementary sets of 50 (as
the 50 parallel 50 loops of the two sets of the over-hang drapery of the
Tabernacle). 50 plus 50 = 100 = 10 squared, the consummate state of rectification,
10 (powers of the soul) "interincluded" in 10.